(MA15+) ****

Director: Ben Affleck.

Cast: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Slaine, Owen Burke.

BEN Affleck has built a career on being acceptably average with a few good turns in between.

It turns that as a director he's exemplary and probably should direct himself more often, as he's done a great job both in front of and behind the lens in this excellent heist film.

He stars as Doug MacRay, bank robber with a heart of gold in Boston's suburb of Charlestown, purported in the movie's opening moments to be bank-robbing capital of the world.

It's with such a heist that The Town begins, and this particular job introduces Doug and his team, plus bank manager Claire Keesey (Hall), who is taken hostage during the crime and later released unharmed.

But as Doug keeps an eye on Claire in the wake of the robbery, it creates a relationship that might be dangerous for all involved - almost as dangerous as Doug's relationship with his fellow bank robber and slightly psychotic mate Jem (Renner).

These two relationships are the core of the film, played out against a bigger backdrop of mid-level crims from a rough neighbourhood and the cops who try to catch them (Hamm plays determined FBI special agent Adam Frawley).

The core trio of Affleck, Renner and Hall are excellent, bouncing well off each other thanks to a solid script with sizzling dialogue.

Affleck proved himself to be a master of the quieter moments in his previous directorial effort Gone Baby Gone, but here he gets to cut loose with three great robbery sequences and a car chase, all of which he handles superbly.

These set pieces frame the film well - the last one is a tense climax almost up there with Heat's big heist - and help keep the pace of the film, which threatens to slip too far in some of the more emotive parts.

Overall, this is a cracking addition to the "Boston crime" sub-genre thanks to a strong script, a top-notch cast, great heists and actor/director Ben Affleck.